Hello, I'm sure for those of you who collect mugs there is a good chance you may share the experience of unpacking a tiki and finding that it was handled not-so-gently during transit. (My sympathies to those of you who have.) Today, the victim was my new Pizz outrigger. The mugs themselves are OK but the outrigger section of the canoe was broken Into a few pieces and some chips are missing. Even if I could possibly find a way to repair some of it, the assumption is the value as a complete set is shot. I'm going to be involved in the process of an insurance claim through the carrier to see of I can get some reimbursement because of the damage plus loss in value. I have never seen any of these mugs up for individual sale, so if asked I have no clue what a reasonable value, if any, can be placed on just the mugs. Has anyone seen any values given to these when not in a full set or have an opinion of what a " reasonable" value might be? As far as I'm concerned all my tiki are "priceless" and part of me feels hypocritical for seeking a value like this as I'd much rather have the set and no money back but realistically, the carrier will be looking at the numbers and not any aesthetic interests. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated..... Thanks.

Thanks on the advice..... I've never gone through ebay for a resolution (good to know about that option) and to the point on value I'd hope in the event of loss that insurance would settle on full insured value but I have not dealt with UPS for a claim before so not sure what to expect. When the associate at the call center asked if I could just get a replacement sent I said "only 100 were made and that was a few years ago". Don't recall her exact response but it equated to something like "yikes".

HHUUUMMM, Was it insured for the full amount that you paid for it?? How well was it packed??? Hopefully you kept the box and shipping materials that it came in.. I have filed a few claims with the USPS. All with success but it took a long time to get paid...Keep a record of the actual e-bay listing.. If you use the e-bay buyer protection be sure to file before the deadline.. I think its 30 days... Now then--- If you decide to try and sell the individual mugs i know there are some people who have chipped oarsmans...I would be interested in buying the the staff.. mine got broken when we were setting up the tiki farm 10th anniversary display.. sorry for your loss...Let me know.

In the times I have dealt with UPS they have always been good, but they often require that you turn over the entire package and contents. You get paid 100% of the value, but the good items in the box get destroyed. (Sometimes they don't care like if you make a $120 claim on a box insured for $900.)

On the other hand my understanding is that USPS only issues ful value pay-outs and requires that you turn over the entire contents. So in some cases you have to decide if you don't want to make a claim and just keep the items that survived.

As far as value I can't be much help there as I have never seen the pieces sold separately. (Which surprises me, as parts get broken/damaged all the time.)

I can say I was very glad my Outrigger set arrived and I could see it was WAY over packed, and everything was in great condition. (This was a couple years ago, and as I recall shipping wasn't cheap for the huge box.)

I, personally, would get my money back from the seller and make them file the insurance claim. It arrived broken so that is well within your power to do (sorry if the seller sees this, but it is their responsability to get it to you in one piece).

I mostly sell on ebay and when stuff gets damaged, it is the sellers fault and not the buyers. Good luck!

Thanks everyone, good points and since I've been fortunate to not have this happen often I'm glad to have the guidance. I did save all the packaging. The one thing that did bother me is the box was not marked "fragile". Of course that isn't 100% guarantee but i was surprised by the omission. UPS will make a determination based on their experience, I'm sure. What I do know is that any ins payment would be sent back to California because that is where it was sent from and the ins purchased, so if they want to take what is left of the set there is no way I'm handing anything over without a check. Also, knowing that some of the pieces are perfectly fine, I hate to think of them being destroyed.
Regarding the individual pieces, yeah I've never seen these go singly either, and imagine it would be difficult to scavenge parts. I'll have to see what happens this week with the carrier rep and go from there. In the meantime, I'll be fantasizing about finding an intact outrigger boat someone is willing to part with.... Probably better chances of winning the lottery but a good friend once told me: "If you're gonna dream, dream big."